In April, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) debuted a new Web site dedicate to hurricane preparedness. The site explains that a lack of hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane disasters, and that by knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster. One of the tools that the NHC mentions on its Web site is WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station located at NHC Headquarters in Miami, Florida.

In speaking about the WX4NHC volunteer ham radio operators, the NHC notes that “formal Amateur Radio activity at the National Hurricane Center was initiated in 1980 and has been an important source of real-time weather observations before, during and after hurricane landfalls. Dedicated ham radio volunteers work at NHC during storm events to help provide NHC meteorologists with very important data that is used in the hurricane warning process. Please visit www.wx4nhc.org for a more detailed history of the WX4NHC ham radio service.”

WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, said that he hopes that this updated NHC Web page “will help promote public awareness about Amateur Radio and more activity from the Amateur Radio community during this hurricane season.”